Vorstellungen » "played much better" than his team.

A breakout game for the Kings’ top line, continued production from Nick Foligno, lots of lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. Babe Ruth Jersey . HEROES Kings top line – Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Anze Kopitar ignited the comeback against St. Louis, leading to a 6-4 win over the Blues. Carter had a goal and three assists, Gaborik had two goals and an assist, and Kopitar racked up a five-points (1 G, 4 A) game. Even with that game, Carter has all of seven points – one goal – in the past 14 games. Gaborik is on a three-game goal-scoring streak, during which he’s scored five goals; he had four goals in his first 18 games of the season. Kopitar, who is playing almost two minutes less per game this season (a career-low 18:54 per game) had four points (1 G, 3 A) in the previous 13 games before breaking out for his career-best five-point game against St. Louis. Nick Foligno – The Blue Jackets’ winger continued his remarkable start to the season with two goals and an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to Washington. Foligno is the leading scorer among players slated to be unrestricted free agents next summer. On this list, I’ve also included each player’s on-ice shooting percentage, to indicate which players may be primed for regression. TOP-SCORING UFAs PLAYER TEAM POS GP G A PTS ON-ICE SH% Nick Foligno CBJ LW 30 16 14 30 10.8% Mike Ribeiro NSH C 30 9 17 26 10.6% Martin St. Louis NYR RW 29 10 13 23 10.7% Mike Santorelli TOR RW 32 6 16 22 12.8% Antoine Vermette ARI C 31 8 13 21 7.2% Carl Soderberg BOS C 32 6 15 21 9.1% Curtis Glencross CGY LW 33 6 15 21 9.4% Cody Franson TOR D 60 5 15 20 11.7% Jaromir Jagr NJ RW 32 5 15 20 7.4% Blake Comeau PIT RW 30 11 8 19 8.7% Calvin Pickard – Stopped 47 of 48 shots in a 1-0 loss at Pittsburgh. The 2010 second-round pick has been good (.934 SV%) in 11 games with the Avalanche this year and has a .920 save percentage in 13 AHL games this season. ZEROES Matt Duchene – Playing primarily against Sidney Crosby at even strength, the Avalanche centre was held without a shot attempt in 20:31 and had 40.6% possession (13 shot attempts for, 19 against) in a 1-0 overtime loss against Pittsburgh. Daniel Winnik – The reliable Maple Leafs winger did not have a shot attempt and was crushed in possession (3 shot attempts for, 16 against, 15.8%) in a 4-1 loss at Carolina. Martin Brodeur – After being staked to a 3-0 lead at Los Angeles, the Blues goaltender allowed six goals on 37 shots in a 6-4 loss at Los Angeles. Through four games with St. Louis, Brodeur has an .882 save percentage. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh’s superstar was back in the lineup after a few games off with mumps. He played 20:19 in his first game in 10 days. Christian Ehrhoff – Left Thursday’s game against Colorado with an undisclosed injury. If Ehrhoff is out, and with Olli Maatta now dealing with mumps, Brian Dumoulin would figure to get back into the Pittsburgh lineup. Max Pacioretty – The Canadiens left winger was crushed by Ducks D Clayton Stoner and left Thursday’s game. Vincent Lecavalier – Playing in his first game since November 29, the Flyers centre finished with their worst possession stats (7 shot attempts for, 18 against, 28.0%) against Florida. Emerson Etem – Played 12:50 for Ducks at Montreal, his first NHL game since November 20. He had three goals in five AHL games and missed some time with the mumps. Tyson Barrie – Played 16:51 vs. Pitsburgh, his third-lowest total of the season and was crushed (6 shot attempts, 20 against, 23.1%) in terms of puck possession. Nick Holden – The Avalanche blueliner played a season-low 4:26 against Pittsburgh, the third time in the past six games that he’s skated fewer than 10 minutes. Brad Stuart – Returned to Colorado lineup after missing six weeks with a hamstring injury. Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh marked Stuart’s 1000th career game. Robyn Regehr – The veteran Kings defenceman played 6:27 before leaving with an upper-body injury. With Regehr gone early, Drew Doughty played a career-high 34:21. Tyler Toffoli – The Kings winger played a season-low 8:29 against St. Louis, being sent a message by head coach Darryl Sutter (more on Toffoli in Short Shifts). Dmitrij Jaskin – Played for St. Louis, his first NHL game in nearly six weeks, and scored a goal in a 6-4 loss at Los Angeles. He had 15 points (4 G, 11 A) in 18 AHL games. Melker Karlsson – The 24-year-old undrafted free agent from Sweden picked up a couple assists in the 4-3 win over Edmonton. SHORT SHIFTS Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 29 shots he faced against Colorado, giving him a league-leading six shutouts…Ducks G Frederik Andersen stopped 23 of 24 shots in a 2-1 win at Montreal…Hurricanes G Cam Ward turned aside 25 of 26 Maple Leafs shots in a 4-1 win…Panthers G Roberto Luongo stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 2-1 shootout win at Philadelphia…Flyers G Steve Mason saved 31 of 32 shots in the loss. Hurricanes D Justin Faulk recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over Toronto; it’s been a breakout offensive campaign for Faulk…Hurricanes D Andrej Sekera picked up a goal and an assist as well, giving him four points (1 G, 3 A) in the past four games…Hurricanes C Eric Staal had a pair of assists in Carolina’s win, which fits with expectations I wrote about earlier in the week…Capitals RW Eric Fehr had the overtime winning goal and an assist in a 5-4 win at Columbus; he has seven points (4 G, 3 A) in the past eight games…Panthers RW Scottie Upshall scored a goal, had 10 shot attempts (6 SOG) and 79.2% Corsi in 10:23 of ice time at Philadelphia…Penguins RW Steve Downie (14 for, 3 against, 82.4%) and RW Craig Adams (13 for, 2 against. 86.7%) were both plus-11 in shot attempts against Colorado…Hurricanes C Jay McClement had excellent possession (14 shot attempts for, 3 against, 82.4%) against Toronto. Seriously. Blue Jackets C Boone Jenner had 36.0% possession (9 for, 16 against) and was on for three goals against, none for, in a 5-4 overtime loss to Washington…The Kings line of Tanner Pearson, Trevor Lewis and Tyler Toffoli all had better than 80% possession against St. Louis…Sharks C Joe Thornton had the club’s best possession stats (17 for, 5 against, 77.3%) in a 4-3 win over Edmonton…As Travis Yost pointed out on Twitter, among skaters with at least 400 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, Thornton leads the league with 58.8% Corsi. CORSI% LEADERS - MINIMUM 400 MINUTES PLAYER TEAM POS. CORSI% Joe Thornton San Jose C 58.8% Nick Leddy N.Y. Islanders D 58.5% Tomas Hertl San Jose LW 58.4% Patrice Bergeron Boston C 58.4% Anton Stralman Tampa Bay D 58.1% Jonas Brodin Minnesota D 58.1% Marian Hossa Chicago RW 58.0% Duncan Keith Chicago D 57.5% Jake Muzzin Los Angeles D 57.4% Blake Wheeler Winnipeg RW 57.2% FIRSTS Matt Tennyson – The 24-year-old Sharks defenceman registered his first NHL goal, in his eighth career game, during the Sharks’ 4-3 win over Edmonton. Scott Harrington – A second-round pick in 2011, Harrington played his first NHL game for Pittsburgh, skating 13:33 at Colorado. FANTASY FOCUS Five games tonight, five players to consider for your lineup: Evgeni Nabokov – He has an .893 save percentage and is not Tampa Bay’s best option with Ben Bishop out, but the Lightning are facing the Devils and goals have not come easily in New Jersey. Mika Zibanejad – I’m still pumping these tires. He’s the Senators’ leading scorer in December with nine points (5 G, 4 A) in eight games and, aside from last game, has recently been playing more minutes than earlier in the season. Thomas Hickey – As long as Johnny Boychuk and Travis Hamonic are out, there are more minutes available on the Islanders blueline and Hickey is one of the prime beneficiaries. Mathieu Perreault – After a slow start to the year, Perreault has started to pick up the pace, with seven points (2 G, 5 A) in the past seven games. Cody Eakin – He has a modest 11 point in 27 games this year, with one point in the past six, but Eakin has been moved to the Stars’ first power play unit. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Cito Gaston Jersey . UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. Orlando Cepeda Braves Jersey . - After three days of light, make that very light, workouts, Team Irvin and Team Carter are ready for tonights Pro Bowl. https://www.cheapbraves.com/343o-phil-niekro-jersey-braves.html .com) - Former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya is joining the Major League Baseball Players Association staff as a senior advisor to executive director Tony Clark.LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- France ended Spains reign as European basketball champion Friday with a 75-72 overtime victory behind 32 points from Tony Parker to set up a final against Lithuania hoping for its first title. Two-time defending champion Spain led by 14 points at halftime but Parker led Frances comeback after the break, and his 3-pointer with 2 minutes left gave France its first lead of the second half, 64-63. "We wanted to be aggressive but until halftime we werent really playing," France coach Vincent Collet said. "We talked about it during the break and we came back very different. They couldnt score for five minutes in the third and even when they started hitting shots again our spirit stayed the same." With the score level 65-65, Parker had a chance to win the game in regulation but his drive to the basket was blocked by Rudy Fernandez with 11 seconds left. Jose Calderon then missed a 3-point attempt at the other end. In overtime, Parker and Antoine Diot scored Frances last 8 points from the free-throw line to keep their team in front and Marc Gasol missed a desperation 3 at the buzzer after Rodriguez had missed a previous attempt to tie it. "We had the last shots in both regulation and overtime but we missed," Spain coach Juan Orenga said. Diot was the only other French player in double figures with 10 points, while Gasol led Spain with 19 points and nine rebounds and Fernandez scored 17. Point guard Ricky Rubio was largely ineffective, with 2 points, one assist and four turnovers. "We put a lot of intensity in the game and it allowed us to come back in the second half," Diot said. Spain beat France to win the title two years ago, but this time it was missing Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro. Spain will now play Croatia for the bronze. "Its very disappointing to lose a game we led for 37 minutes. Bob Uecker Jersey. We played great defence in the first half but in the second we let them play their rhythm," said Rodriguez, who finished with 11 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Parker finished with five turnovers and only one assist, along with six rebounds. Lithuania earlier reached its first final since winning the title 10 years ago by beating Croatia 77-62 and is looking for its fourth championship. Jonas Maciulis led Lithuania with 23 points, Linas Kleiza added 22 and Mantas Kalnietis had 18 as the three of them combined to outscore Croatia. Lithuania centre Jonas Valanciunas provided some big defensive plays with five blocks, while Bojan Bogdanovic led Croatia with 15 points. "It was a difficult game mentally because we knew how important it was," Maciulis said. "Both teams came out shot-shy and we were the first to take the lead." Lithuania went on an 18-3 run to start the third quarter that decided the game. Maciulis scored two consecutive 3-pointers and made a jump shot during that run, while Kalnietis added seven points. Lithuania also used a big third quarter to beat Italy in Thursdays quarterfinal. "They came out in the second half and took a great advantage, we could not catch up," Croatia forward Damjan Rudez said. Lithuania won the European title in 2003 and was bronze medallist at the 2010 worlds but has not made the podium in Europe since taking bronze in 2007 and lost in the quarterfinals at home two years ago. "It was an important win for our generation, to show that we can play well and win a medal. We are trying to prove to people who thought we were not a good team that we can win," Maciulis said. Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa said Lithuania "played much better" than his team. "They are bigger, faster, more athletic," Repesa said. ' ' '